Protector for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatus



April 24,1934. c LL 1,956,521

PROTECTOR FOR THE FLUID SUPPLY PIPES 0F AGITATING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1930 gmnntoz I 67m 6. F13 all,

dttouwnp Patented Apr. 24, 1934 PROTECTOR FOR THE FLUID SUPPLY PIPES F AGITATING APPARATUS Charles F. Ball, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Chain Belt Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Original application January 18, 1930, Serial No.

421,783. Divided and this application September 18, 1931, Serial No. 568,661

6 Claims. (01. 83-43) This invention relates to protectors for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatusandhas for one of its objects to provide a device of this character which will be simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and more eflicient in use than those which have been heretofore proposed.

' In my co-pending application filed January 19,

1930, Serial No. 421,783, entitled method of and apparatus for supplying water to concrete mixers,

of which this is, a division, there is disclosed and claimed a method of and apparatus for supplying water to truck mixers, whichincludes the use of a valve-like structure or protector upon the end of thewatersupplypipewithinthemixingdrumwhich functions to permitflow of water in one direction and to prevent entry into the said water supply pipe of solid materials of themixture whereby the said pipe might become clogged. The present application is directed to the specific construction of the valve-like structure or protector shown in the said prior application and while here illustrated in connection with a concrete mixerof the truck type it is equally susceptible of use in other types of concrete mixers as well as still other types of agitating apparatus, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. 7

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the inventionconsists in the novel details of construction as well as the precise arrangement of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appen'ded claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designate like parts in all the views:---

Figure l is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a truck or transit mixerofwell known form illustrating the protector constituting the present invention applied to the discharge end oi .the water supply pipe of said mixer;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the protector shown in Figure 1 with the parts shown in the positions they occupy when no water is flowing through the discharge pipe; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing the flexing of the protecting disk during ischarge of the water; and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken approximately on the plane indicated by the line .4 4 of Figure 2 illustrating one method of sup porting the protecting disks. j

Referring more particularlyrto the said draw 5 ing the truck mixer 10 is provided with the rotating mixing or agitating drum 11 and the water supply tank 12 which is adapted to feed water into the said drum 11 through the water supply pipe 13. The said pipe may be providedwith suitable valve 14 whereby the flow of water from the tank 12 may be controlled, as is customary in this type of apparatus.

The discharge end of the supply pipe 13 is threaded as at 15, see Figures 2 and 3, to receive a housing or body member 16 which is provided with a longitudinal passageway 17 through which the water or other fluid from the pipe 13 may pass, as will be readily understood. The said passageway is preferably enlarged at the discharge end as indicated at 18. v

' A stem 19 is coaxially mounted in the said passageway 17 in any suitable manner, as for example by the spider legs 20 shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, which legs may be welded as indicated at 21 to one end of the stem 19 and may be forced into the discharge end of the pipe 13, as clearly shown in the, said figures. Any other suitable form of mounting for the stem may be employed however.

The other end of the said stem is preferably threaded as at 22 for the reception of a pair of nuts 23 and 24 between which is mounted a yielding disk-like member 25 of rubber or other similar flexible or resilient material. A backing disk or washer 26 of metal or similar rigid material, is

,interposedbetween the flexible disk 25 andthe nut 23, said rigid disk being preferably of somewhat lesser diameter than that of the yielding disk, as clearly shown in Figure 2. A metallic or other rigid washer 27 is interposed between the disk 25 and the nut 24, said washer being of relatively small diameter as shown.

As above stated the normal position of the parts when no water is passing through the discharge pipe 13 is that shown in Figure 2 wherein the rubber disk 25 is unflexed in either direction. However, upon opening of the water control valve 14 the head of water provided by the water tank 12 or other source of supply will produce a pressure upon the disk 25 which will flex or bend the 100 same toward the right as viewed in Figure 2, until it becomes cupped as illustrated in Figure 3, thereby permittingthe water to pass around the outer periphery of the cup and into the agitating drum or vessel 11, where the water will mix with 5 the other constituents of the concrete. So long as water is flowing in pipe 13 the disk 25 retain substantially the position shown in Figure 3, but upon closing of the valve 14, cutting off the water and relieving the pressure upon the said disk, the latter will, through its own resiliency, reassume the position shown in Figure 2. In this position it will prevent the entry into the passageway 17 and the water supply pipe 13 of solid ma terials of the concrete mixture and more especially the larger and heavier aggregates such as gravel or crushed stone. In this action the flexible disk 25 is assisted by the backing plate or disk 26 which prevents flexing of the major portion of the disk 25 and limits flexing toward the left as viewed in Figures 2 and 3 to the extreme outer periphery of the disk. Such flexing would be insuflicient to permit of gravel or crushed stone passing the disk and entering into the passageway 17.

While the disk 25 may be made of a diameter substantially equal to that of the portion 18 of the passageway it is preferred to make it of slightly less diameter as indicated in Figure 2 to provide a slight clearance 30 between the outer periphery of the disk and the walls of the passage-way. This clearance insures that the disk will always return to its normal unfiexed position as shown in Figure 2, whereas if the disk were of the same diameter as the passageway it would possibly be prevented from returning to such position by the presence of some of the smaller aggregates and cement particles at the point of contact between the disk and the passage walls. Furthermore, such contact between the disk and walls would result in unnecessary friction and wear between the parts, which may be eliminated by providing the clearance 30 as shown.

When the clearance 30 is provided, a small amount of the finer aggregates, such as grains of sand, as well as particles of cement may find their way past the disk 25 but they will be prevented from entering the smaller portion of the passageway by reason of the-shoulder 31 between the smaller and larger portions of the said passageway, and such particles and fine aggregates will be washed out of the passage-way by the succeeding discharge of water. In other words, any finer particles which may pass the disk 25 are not particuarly detrimental, whereas should pieces of crushed stone or gravel find their way into the passage-way 1'? they would not be removed by succeeding charges of water, but would tend to clog the discharge pipe and ultimately prevent the flow of water therethrough so as to make it necessary to enter the agitating drum or receptacle 11 and clean out the pipe by hand. The present invention however has been found in actual practice to efliciently overcome this difficulty, acting substantially as a check-valve, which permits free flow of the fluid from the pipe, and prevents entry of the objectionable solids into the pipe, thus eliminating clogging thereof.

While one form of the invention has been illustrated and described it is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the precise arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A protector for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatus, comprising a body adapted to be mounted upon said pipe, provided with a passageway for the fluid which terminates in a discharge orifice of at least as great dimensions as said passageway; flexible means mounted wholly within said passageway, having a perimetral portion unsupported in either direction.

adapted to yield, in one direction to permit fluid flow through said passageway; and means for limiting reverse movement of said flexible means to prevent entry into said pipe of material being agitated in the apparatus.

2. A protector for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatus, comprising a body adapted to be mounted upon said pipe, provided with a passageway for the fluid; a flexible member mounted wholly within said passageway, having a perimetral portion which is unsupported in either direction, adapted to yield in one direction to permit fluid flow through said passageway; and a rigid member backing the central portion of said flexible member to limit movement thereof in the reverse direction and thereby prevent entry into said pipe of material being agitated in the apparatus.

3. A protector for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatus, comprising a body adapted to be mounted upon said pipe, provided with a passageway for the fluid; a stem mounted coaxially of said passageway; a resilient disk carried by said stem, wholly within said passageway, and having a peripheral portion which is unsupported in either direction, adapted to yield in one direction to permit fluid flow through said passageway; and a rigid disk, also carried by said stem behind the central portion of said resilient disk, to limit flexing of the latter in the reverse direction and thereby prevententry into said pipe of material being agitated in the apparatus.

4. A protector for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatus, comprising a body adapted to be mounted upon said pipe, provided with a passageway for the fluid which terminates in a discharge orifice of at least as great dimensions as the passageway; a stem having a spider mounting it in and coaxial with said passageway; a flexible disk carried by said stem within said passageway, having a peripheral portion which is unsupported in either direction, and whch is adapted to yield to permit flow of fluid .11 one direction through said passageway; and a rigid disk of lesser diameter than said flexible disk carried by said stem behind the central portion of said flexible disk to limit flexing of the latter in the reverse direction'and thereby prevent entry into said pipe of material being agitated in the apparatus.

5. A protector for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatus, comprising a body adapted to be mounted upon said pipe, provided with a passageway for the fluid which terminates in a discharge orifice of at least as great dimensions as the passageway; a flexible disk mounted within .adapted to yield to permit flow of liquid in one direction through said passageway, said disk being of slightly less diameter than said passageway to provide clearance between its periphery and the walls of the passageway when the disk is unflexed; and means for supporting the central portion of the disk and thereby limiting flexing of the disk in a reverse direction to prevent entry into said pipe of material being agitated in the apparatus.

' 6. A protector for the fluid supply pipes of agitating apparatus, comprising a body adapted to be mounted upon said pipe, provided with a passageway for the fluid, said passageway having an enlarged portion providing a shoulder and a large discharge orifice; a flexible disk mounted and means adjacent the central portion of said disk for limiting flexing of the disk in the reverse direction to prevent entry into said pipe of at least a portion of the materials being agitated in the apparatus.

CHARLES F. BALL. 

